Fires of Liberation
by codebreaker
Summary: Prophecy dictates that when ancient powers stir from their slumber, it will mark humanity's ultimate end. However, fate has given humanity one chance at redemption. One chance in the form of teenagers, each one holding a piece of the puzzle. When the pieces finally fall into place, only then will they ever stand a chance.
1. The Guiding Light

A hooded figure stood perfectly still, facing the intricately decorated doors of the inner library. The spellwork that locked the doors from most outsiders could not keep them out as they brought their hand out, palm laid out flat against the large jewel in the door. The jewel was easily the size of their hand, it shifted between shades of blue, powering the magic that held the lock together. Power pulsed at their fingertips, energy swirling around their hand in smoke-like swirls. The electric blue that pulsed through the jewel slowly shifted to a deeper, more sinister purple.

There was a series of clicks and whirrs. The jewel pushed in, the mechanism turning and in seconds, the doors were unlocked. They loudly creaked open, revealing the grand library within. The spacious area was filled with shelves, carpeted in vibrant red. The area was showered in gold, both from the warm lights of the torches and the skylight above. But their sights were not on the wonderous library before them, this would not inspire any awe from them as they've been here plenty of times before.

Their sights were on the single scroll, hidden in a dark room at the back. This room contained dark, heavy energy. It would have been suffocating for anyone who was not familiar with the dark. As they approached the stand that held the scroll, whispers of spirits long gone echoed around the room. Indecipherable whispers sounded like wails, growing louder and louder as they stepped closer. When they finally held the scroll and lifted from the stand, the wails abruptly stopped. One last spirit, their whisper loud and clear as they spoke.

_'So you are back . . . . you must be desperate... .'_ the voice faded, whispering warnings that would only be left unheard.

* * *

"And I don't suppose that you were going to tell me you accidentally blew it up?"

Saiya watched in amusement, her eyes flickering between the two brothers. Ryo, with ever the commanding presence, watched as the younger of the two stammered out a response. Sho was the one with an affinity with magic, though his control could use a lot of work.

She raised an eyebrow as he turned to face her, a pleading look on his face. Pouting, he quickly made his way over to stand in front of her.

"Help me out here." A look passed between her and Ryo, then she turned back to Sho, an amused look directed at the younger boy. Carefully bringing up her right hand, she flicked her wrist, a small silver flame forming between her thumb and index finger. With a smirk, she threw it at him and watched as he panicked, fumbling as he tried to catch it.

"I can't help you out of getting out of trouble if that's what you're asking of me." The pout never once left his face as she spoke to him, voice even and calm. "I can, however, try and help you figure out how to control your magic. Hopefully, before you blow anything else up trying."

"You specialize in combat spells-" He started but was immediately cut off by the more experienced mage.

"And you, my dear, do not. Which brings up the question of how you managed to blow up several crystals trying a healing spell." There was no clear answer. This left the boy stuttering and stammering through an answer that she already knew. Movement caught her eye, drew her attention to the elder of the two brothers as he moved to sit next to her. He looked rather amused, watching Sho hold the flame now, staring at it with a wide-eyed expression.

"W-well, ya know . . . that's a good question. I don't know how to answer that one."

The abrupt knock at the door got all of them up on their feet. One of the royal advisors opened the door and peered in, informing them of an announcement being made in the main hall. Upon his leave, the trio shared a look. An announcement made in the main hall meant that there would be a small audience. A private announcement was rare, most were made public. Very few things were forced to be private, most of the time private announcements meant it was political. Even rarer, they only happened when there was an impending war.

There was a feeling of dread that laid heavy on their shoulders as they made their way to the main hall.

* * *

_Oh, Icarus! For all you have fallen, still you flew! And for a moment, the sun knew of you, too_

_━ for those who smile as they drown and laugh as they fall, who are we to define tragedy after all?_

* * *

Very few things could easily scare Judai these days.

But the idea of a prophecy, one that told of the world dying, really freaked him out. He had fought on plenty of battlefields, seen plenty of visions. Each could give him enough nightmares to last several lifetimes. Yet, none of them had been able to draw out quite the same primal fear this one did. In the light of the fire, he saw flickering images of villages burning, heard the screams of people dying.

With each passing image he saw in the flickering light, the sinking feeling in his gut only got heavier.

He's been dreaming more than usual lately. Of something powerful, of something ancient. Every dream he had varied greatly from each other, anything from drowning under powerful waves to watching everything burn around him. However, they each held one thing in common, one single thread pulling them all together. The eyes. A bright red, crimson and yet, held a darkness that made them reflect the very blood that was spilled with each passing dream.

His nights were stained in blood, his days filled with loneliness, there were even fewer things that made Judai happy. But more than that, he was determined. He was searching, searching for something he may never find. Searching for answers he may never reach. But in his determination, he refused to let the little hope that guided him go out.

There was a certain comfort in knowing that the loneliness he was burdened with would not last. He took solace in the fact that the burden he chose to bear would soon no longer be his alone.

Soon enough, he would not be Atlas, bearing the weight of the sky on his shoulders.

But for now, he'll patiently wait, suffer through it just a little longer. The promise of a reward greater than this would be the single greatest motivator, giving him enough strength to not buckle under the pressure.

His eyes slid closed, as whispers of a promise made eons ago whispered in his ears.

Just wait a little more, just a little longer.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**God, I love fantasy AUs so much. **


	2. Made for Something More

Between the crowded streets and the almost overbearing heat of the sun, Edo found it incredibly difficult to properly breathe.

Crowds were never his thing, never his favorite place to be. The chaotic nature of a busy city such as the capital kept him away, made him hesitant to stay for long. He hated crowds, he really did, especially when the weather was as hot as it was today. But when a job leads him here, there isn't much he can do in the way of avoiding the large capital city.

Impatient and halfway irritated, he pushed through the crowd as he made his way towards the castle. He was familiar with the Royal Family. Strange, it seemed, the way they had been able to keep him around. The way they chose to keep him around. The way he kept coming around. Stranger that he almost enjoyed the company of their kids.

Shaking his head clear as he entered the town square. The narrow, near claustrophobic market, opened up to a much more spacious area, marble pillars evenly spaced around the perimeter and a large fountain in the center. The statue atop the fountain was of a dragon mid-takeoff. But he was not here to appreciate the scenery nor the architecture. The glances thrown his way made him uneasy, made him nervous. Out of habit, his hand lifted and found the soft fabric of his hood, lifting it up.

A voice in his head, Ryo's no doubt, told him it was unnecessary, told him all sorts of things to attempt to break that particular habit of his. Try as he might, nothing ever really worked. Edo had to admire his effort and persistence on the matter, however. Not many people were quite as stubborn.

The path to the castle thinned out as he got closer, got much quieter too. He was grateful for it. The guards let him by after he slipped off his hood, having been far too familiar with the boy to not let him through. He noted the electricity in the air, a buzz that told him of magic. It was a feeling that was much too familiar, much more familiar than the path he walked, time and time again. The buzz in the air only got stronger as he got closer to the doors, the feeling nearly made his knees buckle.

As the doors closed behind him, he would fail to notice the raven closely watching him from a nearby tree.

* * *

"How was the briefing?" He spotted Saiya immediately as he entered the room. This particular room had a name, a name much too long for him to ever remember, let alone try and pronounce. It was as beautiful as it was bright, however. Almost completely white, accented with gold, and almost always showered in bright light, it made it a good place to clear your head. The pedestal in the middle held a clear crystal, the light passing through bathed the room in rainbows.

Saiya stood in the middle, gazing up at the ceiling, eyes slightly narrowed in concentration. He couldn't be sure what she was doing nor why she was doing it, he never was quite sure with her.

"Incredibly boring, actually." He paused, noting the look Ryo shot him from across the room. "Though, I suppose the prophecy bit is somewhat interesting."

He had taken note of Sho's absence but didn't bother to ask about it. Edo knew better than to ask about it anymore. The stories each time seemed to only get a little wilder and a little more long-winded. Caught up in his own head and much too distracted by his own thoughts, he failed to notice Ryo cross the room and nearly jumped six feet when he spoke.

"It's just you and me this time."

That caught him a little off guard. It must have shown, given the looks the pair gave him. He spoke first, however, stopping them from saying anything about his lack of attention on them.

"Hm? They're letting you come with me?" His tone was playful, teasing. Ryo was rarely ever allowed to go anywhere when they, being Edo and Saiya, went off on their own on any given day. An even rarer sight was Saiya not jumping at the opportunity to leave the city with them. "And Saiya's not coming this time, huh? I'm not sure what I'm more surprised about."

"Nah, someone has to keep an eye on Sho. Besides, you two need some bonding time without me." The look in her eyes was a bit teasing, a bit of something he couldn't quite place. He brushed it off and rolled his eyes. But meeting Ryo's eyes, they both knew, to some degree or another. Almost all their little adventures together were almost always a trio. At least, whenever Ryo was allowed to tag along.

"You guys know who you're looking for? Or what?"

The room went silent again, the only sounds being the hum of the town. The prophecy was extremely vague, didn't supply much in the way of helpful details. Just enough to tell them there needed to be three. Edo hadn't bothered to find out how they found out it had to be him and Ryo. He didn't bother to ask for how they were expected to find the third member of their trio if it wasn't Saiya. He had just wanted to get it over and done with, which obviously did not provide him with much information.

"See? He knows about as much as we do at this point." Saiya turned to Ryo, giving him a raised eyebrow and a look that said 'I told you so'. Ryo only gave her a small smile in response.

"Ah, no. Only as much as you do, my dear."

They looked at him, some type of confusion directed at him. But they'd never get to ask him what he meant. A knock on the door diverted their attention elsewhere.

It was time to leave. A cold feeling enveloped the trio as Ryo and Edo made their way out, leaving Saiya to watch their backs as they exited the room. The door closed behind them, and just as it did, the crystal sitting on the pedestal next to her cracked, a loud sound that resembled thunder. She merely turned to it, half in surprise, and narrowed her eyes at it.

* * *

Judai did not find it comforting that Yubel had disappeared again. The demon could take care of themself, that much he was sure of.

He laid in a meadow under the light of the moon, staring up at stars that winked back at him. The silence that gave out only to the sound of owls and the occasional animal was all that accompanied him. He lost track of the amount of time he spent laying there, staring up the sky.

"You look lonely, my dear." The familiar voice in his head gave him a sense of lightness, a sense of relief. He supposed that Yubel's presence kept him grounded more than he'd like to admit.

"Hm, do I?" A breeze found its way across the clearing. It felt nice against the intense summer heat.

"Perhaps you should be happy to know your loneliness will not last." A pause, he could almost see them grin, much too soft for their fanged features. "I suppose convincing you to get up and spend more time looking is a lost cause."

He hummed, not making any move to get up. He turned his head slightly, gazing at his bag that was so lazily tossed next to him. There was a sense of calm that had taken hold of him, one that Judai was almost unfamiliar with nowadays.

"Maybe later."

His eyes drifted back to the star-filled sky above him. He blinked and didn't flinch as Yubel materialized in front of him, upside down in his vision as they hung over him.

"I don't suppose I can convince you to sleep either." Their voice came out short of a purr. Judai snorted, sitting up. Yubel shifted, smoothly finding a spot next to him.

"Not any more than you can any other night."

It was quite a strange feeling, whatever this calm was. Perhaps it was the knowledge that something looming over the horizon would bring him into someone's orbit, would send people crashing into his life as he did theirs. Part of him was near euphoric in knowing that he would have people to share this burden with, to have people around. More than anyone, he thought he knew life was not meant to be spent in the kind of loneliness he had endured up until now. But the dread that sat heavy in the pit of his stomach balanced it out, the idea that he would hold some responsibility for the life of others. It was not a responsibility he was quite ready for. The dread in his gut burned like a dying star, burned and scratched. It screamed at him like a banshee, louder than anything. It was quite a balancing act his emotions were doing right now.

"You'll be okay. Get some rest, my dear. You'll need it." Yubel's reached his ears in muffled tones, it sounded far away. Judai had failed to notice how he had started to use them as a pillow, leaning on their shoulder, yawning like a tired puppy. "It won't be long now."

Judai drifted off to sleep, and for once in nearly two months, he wouldn't dream of a thing.

In the trees, a crow would meet Yubel's eyes, its eyes glowing a bright crimson. With a loud caw and a frenzy of ink-black feathers, it took off into the night.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Ah, yes, an update. Finally.**

**Ok, in my defense, I've been busy with school for like a month. But since I had like two weeks off, the only excuse I have is that I've been putting this off.**

**Listened to the entirety of City Lights by Baekhyun on repeat while writing this. Just in case you wanted the mood I was in while writing.**

**You probably didn't.**


End file.
